Levels and distributions of polychlorinated biphenyls in sewage sludge of urban wastewater treatment plants

Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls （PCBs） have been measured in sewage sludge samples from 8 urban wastewater treatment plants in Beijing, China. The PCB congeners were analyzed by isotope dilution high resolution gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry method. The concentration of PCBs ranged from 65.6 to 157 ng/g dry weight （dw）, with a mean value of 101 ng/g dw. The dioxin-like PCB WHO-TEQs （World Health Organization-Toxic Equivalents） of the sludge were lower than 1 pg /g dw. Consequently, all the concentrations of PCBs in sludge samples were below the upper limit for land application according to the Chinese legislation law for agriculture use. The PCB homologue profiles in sludge samples were dominated by tri-CBs and tetra- CBs. Similar distributions have been found in one of the Chinese PCB commercial products. The patterns of dioxin-like and indicator congeners observed in this study were quite similar in all samples. The predominant congener for dioxin-like and indicator PCBs were PCB-118 and PCB-28, respectively, while PCB-126 had the highest TEQ value.

Effectiveness of Centralized Wastewater Treatment Plant in Removing Emerging Contaminants: A Case Study at Kuching, Malaysia

Before the construction of the Kuching Centralized Wastewater Treatment System Package 1 (KCWTSP1), partially treated blackwater and greywater were discharged directly into natural waterways. The accumulated wastewater had polluted Sarawak river, which is regulated and cannot discharge freely into the South China Sea. The polluted Sarawak river has endangered human health, river water quality, and aquatic ecosystems. Hence, the KCWTSP1 commissioned in 2015 serves the purpose of removing pollutants from wastewater before it is discharged into natural waterways. However, the effectiveness of KCWTPP1 is unknown. This paper is aimed to discuss and review the effectiveness of KCWTPP1 in treating wastewater since its inception in 2015. From 2017 to 2020, KCWTPP1 has treated an average of 4,200,000 m3 of wastewater per year. Generally, most of the discharge effluent met Environmental Quality Act (1974) Standard A criteria, except for the oil and grease parameter. Initially, the plant could not treat suspended solids and total phosphorus, but this was greatly improved in subsequent years. Therefore, some improvements are required to treat oil and grease parameters effectively and efficiently to ensure that only Standard A effluent is discharged into the Sarawak River in the future.

Design and Comparison of Wastewater Treatment Plant Types (Activated Sludge and Membrane Bioreactor), Using GPS-X Simulation Program: Case Study of Tikrit WWTP (Middle Iraq)

Mathematical models and simulation are considered a powerful tool in engineering practice. Those tools are becoming increasingly used for the improvement of wastewater treatment plants design because the conceptual design is complex and ill-defined. In this paper, three alternatives: 1) complete mix activated sludge without nitrogen removal (CAS);2) complete mix activated sludge with nitrogen removal (CAS-N) and;3) membrane bioreactor (MBR) processes were designed into two steps: first concept design to calculate the size of process units, then second implement modeling and simulation to improve the accuracy of the conceptual design. In brief, the treatment process design has been verified by using the activated sludge model No. 1 (ASM1) in GPS-X (v.7) simulation software. This application helps not only in sizing the treatment units but also in understanding the plant’s capacity. In the same time, it can assist in studying the future expansion works required for increased hydraulic and organic loadings. For this purpose, Tikrit WWTP was selected as a case study. The used model was validated by comparing the designed values of the plant and the modeling data. The verification of the obtained results from both hand calculations and the results of the program showed a good agreement. A significant difference in the volume of secondary treatment was obtained from design calculations, where the CAS without denitrification system was 9244 m3 (aerobic and secondary tanks), CAS with denitrification system was 11,324 m3 (anoxic, aerobic and secondary tanks) and for MBR system was 7468 m3 (anoxic, aerobic and immersed membrane tanks). From the obtained results point of view, it can be concluded that mathematical models can be considered as worthy tools to complement the established wastewater treatment plant design procedures.

Experimental Study on Anaerobic Digestion of Remaining Sludge in Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant

Along with the development and progress of environmental protection management,it is necessary to pay full attention to the disposal of excess sludge in the process of urban sewage treatment plant management.It is necessary to ensure effective integration of management mechanisms and management paths.To a certain extent,it can improve the actual efficiency of digestion and treatment work and lay a foundation for the optimal operation of environmental protection management.In this paper,the treatment of excess sludge in a sewage treatment plant is studied.The method and results of anaerobic digestion test of excess sludge in a sewage treatment plant are discussed for reference only.

Community analysis of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in activated sludge of eight wastewater treatment systems

We investigated the communities of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria （AOB） in activated sludge collected from eight wastewater treatment systems using polymerase chain reaction （PCR） followed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism （T-RFLP）, cloning, and sequencing of the α-subunit of the ammonia monooxygenase gene （amoA）. The T-RFLP fingerprint analyses showed that different wastewater treatment systems harbored distinct AOB communities. However, there was no remarkable difference among the AOB T- RFLP profiles from different parts of the same system. The T-RFLP fingerprints showed that a full-scale wastewater treatment plant （WWTP） contained a larger number of dominant AOB species than a pilot-scale reactor. The source of influent affected the AOB community, and the WWTPs treating domestic wastewater contained a higher AOB diversity than those receiving mixed domestic and industrial wastewater. However, the AOB community structure was little affected by the treatment process in this study. Phylogenetic analysis of the cloned amoA genes clearly indicated that all the dominant AOB in the systems was closely related to Nitrosomonas spp. not to Nitrosospira spp. Members of the Nitrosomonas oligotropha and Nitrosomonas communis clusters were found in all samples, while members of Nitrosomonas europaea cluster occurred in some systems.

Evaluation of copper removal efficiency using water treatment sludge

Large quantities of sludge are produced during water treatment processes. Recently, sludge has been treated as waste and disposed of in landfills, which increases the environmental burdens and the operational cost. Therefore, sludge reuse has become a significant environmental issue. In this study, adsorption of copper ions (Cu^2+) onto calcined sludge was investigated under various operational conditions (with varying temperature, Cu^2+ initial concentration, pH, and sludge dosage). The prepared sludge material was characterized with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area. The sorption capacity of sludge was directly proportional to the initial Cu^2+ concentration and inversely proportional to the sludge dosage. The optimum operational pH and solution temperature were 6.6 and 80℃, respectively. The experimental results followed a Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-first-order adsorption kinetics. Thermodynamic parameters such as activation energy, change in free energy, enthalpy, and entropy were calculated. Thermodynamic analyses indicated that the sorption of copper ions onto the calcined sludge was driven by a physical adsorption process. The prepared sludge was proven to be an excellent adsorbent material for the removal of Cu^2+ from an aqueous solution under optimum conditions.

The Effect of Wastewater Treatment Plants on Retainment of Plastic Microparticles to Enhance Water Quality—A Review

Microplastics, plastic pieces of ≤5 mm in size, are ubiquitous in ther environment and can be found in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. This manuscript reviews the literature on the fate of microplastics in wastewater treatment and briefly highlights novel developments in the removal of microplastics from aqueous systems.

Troubleshooting and Optimization of High-Strength Inhibitory Chemical Wastewater Treatment Process

Wastewaters from the chemical industry are usually of high-strength and may contain minor inhibitory and recalcitrant organics that are at times not readily identifiable. This paper describes the experience of a biological waste water treatment plant （WWTP） processing a COD concentration of 43000 mg·L^-1 wastewater from an oxochemical manufacturing plant. Stage improvements of the plant process by dilution of the inhibitory influent using other chemical wastewater streams resulting in a synergistic process effect, and removal of inhibitory organics by phase separation via acidification, effectively achieved process optimization producing a high quality effluent. In particular, the COD removal efficiency of granular sludge based anaerobic reactors increased from 56% to 90%. The final effluent COD decreased from 250mg·L^-1 to 50mg·L^-1, consistently meeting the COD concentration of 100 mg·L^-1 regulatory discharge limit. The success of the process enhancements supports the hypothesis that long-chain quaternary carboxylic acids act as substrate inhibitors in the biological process.

Effect of Industrial Sludge Application on Soil Nitrogen and Wheat Plant Response

Wazirpur industrial area of Delhi generates a huge quantity of sludge per day, which is highly acidic in nature (pH 2.7 to 4.4) and contains macronutrients, micronutrients as well as toxic metals. A pot-culture experiment was conducted by taking the two soils (JNU and Chhattarpur) amended with sludge (0%, 10%, 20%, 30%), pretreated with lime (0%, 0.5% and 1%). Two wheat seedlings were planted per pot containing 3 kg sludge amended or control soil and the experiment was carried out till harvesting (four months) in a glass house. Lime treatments enhanced the N content in wheat plant in almost all cases. Sludge and lime treatments enhanced dry weight in wheat plants grown in Chhattarpur soil and dry weight increased with time. Maximum growth was observed in 0.5 lime treated and 20% sludge amended soils. But we have to take an account about any kind of metal toxicity before disposal of this waste to land.

Full scale application of combined SBF-AS process for municipal wastewater treatment in small towns and cities in China

The combined submerged biofilm （ SBF）-activated sludge （AS） process for treatment of municipal wastewater in a small city in China is described in this paper. The process exhibited high removal efficiencies for carbonaceous substances, nitrogen and phosphorus which mainly took place in the combined SBF-AS biore- actor. The SBF-AS bioreactor was divided into pre-anoxic, anaerobic, anoxic and aerobic zones from inlet to outlet, in which fixed biofilm carriers were packed. Excellent performance had been obtained under normal operating conditions in more than one year of operation in Dong＇ e municipal WWTP, Shandong province, with mean removal efficiencies of BOD5 93.4%, COD 88%, SS 92%, NH4 - N 82. 1%, TP 75% and TN 66.7%, and quite high effluent quality such as BOD5 6 to 10 rag/L, COD 20 to 40 rag/L, SS 5 to 10 rag/L, TN 10 to 20 rag/L, NH4 - N 4 to 8 mg/L and TP 0. 6 to 1.0 mg/L. The effluent was reused multi-purposely, such as toilet flushing, green belt watering and artificial lake pounding. Simultaneous nitrification and denitrification took place due to the DO gradient in biofilm in aerobic zone of the SBF-AS bioreactor, which made TN removal efficiency improved remarkably in system. Some activated sludge was returned from final clarifiers to the bioreactor for phosphorus removal. The process had the advantages of low investment and low operational/ maintenance （O/M） costs, low sludge yield and was preferably employed in small towns and cities.

Total concentrations and different fractions of heavy metals in sewage sludge from Guangzhou, China

Dewatered municipal sludge samples were collected from five municipal wastewater treatment plants （WWTPs） and one industrial WWTP in Guangzhou, China. A number of agricultural parameters and total metal concentrations in the sludge were determined. Metal speciation was also studied. The results showed that sewage sludge had high organic carbon, and was rich in such nutrients as N and P. The concentrations of Mn, Zn, and Cu were the highest, followed by Ni, Pb, and Cr, Cd had the lowest concentration. In addition, the concentrations of the aforementioned heavy metals in the sludge samples were higher than those recorded in the background data for crop soils. With the exception of Cu and Cd from site S1, and Ni from sites S1, $2, and $5, all other metal concentrations conformed to permissible levels prescribed by the national application standard of acid soil in China （GB 18918--2002）. The results of the BCR sequential extraction showed that the concentrations of Mn and Zn were predominant in acid-soluble/exchangeable and reducible fractions. Cu was principally distributed in oxidizable and residual fractions, whereas Cr was present in oxidizable and residual fractions, Pb was found in the state of residual fractions, and the distribution of Ni and Cd did not show significant characteristics.

Why Should We Bother on Measurement in Wastewater Treatment Operation?

The question of wastewater treatment and control is reflected from a very specific viewpoint: the low priority given to accurate and useful measurements within wastewater treatment. The matter is discussed from four various perspectives, that may be labelled “Legal understanding”;“Needs for accurate measurement results already in the planning and design stage”;“The measurement problem and human behaviour”;“The understanding of the short term and long term dynamics and changes in pollution and flow loads on a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP)”. All these aspects bring about much improved needs for an accurate and frequent measurement scheme both for pollutants and flows entering a WWTP. The conclusion is stated as follows: A far more and well elaborated on-line measurement system at the plants would become a needed tool for improved water environment protection at lower costs.

我国城镇污水处理厂污泥产率系数现状及影响因素分析

以我国城镇污水处理厂生态环境统计和监测数据为基础,分析了我国城镇污水处理厂经验污泥产率系数(YQ)和以去除COD导致的污泥增殖来计算的污泥产率系数(YCOD),研究了进水COD、设计处理规模、处理工艺、区域分布等单一因素以及多因素与污泥产率系数的响应关系。结果表明,我国城镇污水处理厂YQ平均值为1.33×10-4 t/m3,YCOD平均值为0.81 kg/kg,YQ、YCOD总体呈正偏态分布;YQ平均值与进水COD、设计处理规模正相关,YCOD平均值与进水COD、设计处理规模负相关;YQ、YCOD平均值对应的COD区间范围为150~250 mg/L,设计处理规模为1×104~1×105 m3/d的污水处理厂YQ、YCOD与平均值最为接近,相对偏差分别为2.8%、-4.3%;A2/O工艺、氧化沟类、普通活性污泥法、A/O工艺的YQ、YCOD与平均值接近,相对偏差范围分别为-1.8%~1.9%、-2.3%~5.8%;华东和华中地区的YQ,华东、西南地区YCOD与平均值基本持平;多因素方差分析显示进水COD为YQ和YCOD的显著影响因素。

高安屯再生水厂碳中和实践措施及效果

高安屯再生水厂位于北京市,水处理规模20万m^(3)/d,主体工艺为AAO+砂滤池,污泥处理中心规模1836 t/d(污泥含水率80%),主体工艺为热水解+厌氧消化+板框脱水。对比了不同碳核算标准,确定了高安屯再生水厂碳排放计算边界。高安屯再生水厂碳中和项目采用节能降耗、回收能源、利用清洁能源的方法,是泥水共治、餐厨协同、多能耦合、能源自给的大型碳中和示范工程。

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the centralized wastewater treatment plant of a chemical industry zone:Removal,mass balance and source analysis

Increased attention has been given to the fate of pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) introduced to the wastewater treatment plants.Dissolved and adsorbed PAHs were detected in the centralized wastewater treatment plant of a chemical industry zone in Zhejiang Province,China.The most abundant PAHs were the low molecular weight PAHs (e.g.,Acy,Ace,Flu and Phe),accounting for more than 80% of the total 16 PAHs in each treatment stage.Phase partitioning suggested that the removal of PAHs in every treatment stage was influenced greater by the sorption of particles or microorganisms.The removal efficiencies of individual PAHs ranged between 4% and 87% in the primary sedimentation stage,between 1% and 42% in anaerobic hydrolysis stage,between <1% and 70% in aerobic bio-process stage,between 1.5% and 80% in high-density clarifier stage,and between 44% and 97% in the whole treatment process.Mass balance calculations in primary stage showed significant losses for low molecular weight PAHs and relatively good agreements for high molecular weight PAHs as well as in anaerobic hydrolysis,high-density clarifier stage and sludge stream for most PAHs.Great gains of 60%-150% were obtained for high molecular weight PAHs in aerobic bio-process stage due to biosorption and bioaccumulation.Our investigations found that PAHs entering the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) could be derived from the dyeing chemical processes as the byproducts,and the contribution supported by the largest dyeing chemical group was up to 48%.

Occurrence,distribution,and potential influencing factors of sewage sludge components derived from nine full-scale wastewater treatment plants of Beijing,China

Millions of tons of waste activated sludge（WAS） produced from biological wastewater treatment processes cause severe adverse environmental consequences. A better understanding of WAS composition is thus very critical for sustainable sludge management. In this work, the occurrence and distribution of several fundamental sludge constituents were explored in WAS samples from nine full-scale wastewater treatment plants（WWTPs） of Beijing, China. Among all the components investigated, active heterotrophic biomass was dominant in the samples（up to 9478 mg/L）, followed by endogenous residues（6736 mg/L）,extracellular polymeric substances（2088 mg/L）, and intracellular storage products（464 mg/L）among others. Moreover, significant differences（p 〈 0.05） were observed in composition profiles of sludge samples among the studied WWTPs. To identify the potential parameters affecting the variable fractions of sludge components, wastewater source as well as design and operational parameters of WWTPs were studied using statistical methods. The findings indicated that the component fraction of sewage sludge depends more on wastewater treatment alternatives than on wastewater characteristics among other parameters. A principal component analysis was conducted, which further indicated that there was a greater proportion of residual inert biomass in the sludge produced by the combined system of the conventional anaerobic/anoxic/oxic process and a membrane bioreactor. Additionally, a much longer solids retention time was also found to influence the sludge composition and induce an increase in both endogenous inert residues and extracellular polymeric substances in the sludge.

丹麦Lundtofte污水处理厂的运行和管理

介绍了丹麦Lundtofte污水处理厂的机械设备、污水处理工艺(活性污泥法)、污泥处理(厌氧、消化、焚烧)的操作和运行情况,并给出了详细的运行费用方面的数据,包括药剂费、能耗等。

协同除臭技术在罗芳污水处理厂中的工程应用

罗芳污水处理厂位于深圳边境,毗邻中国香港,紧邻居民区,“邻避效应”明显,项目采用生物原位除臭系统、末端除臭系统和新风系统对该污水处理厂进行除臭,其中末端除臭系统由封闭工程、臭气精准收集输送工程、协同臭气处理工程等构成。文章简要介绍了3大除臭系统的主要除臭原理,并阐述了该3大除臭系统在该污水处理厂的应用效果。臭气处理后切实提升了周边的环境质量,能够满足设计执行的排放标准,实际运行优于《城镇污水处理厂污染物排放标准》(GB 18918—2002)一级标准,成为破解“邻避效应”的典范。

不同负荷梯度对污水厂活性污泥的产酸性能分析

活性污泥发酵产酸有利于实现污泥资源化利用。文中以污水厂活性污泥为研究对象,在污水厂现场采用半连续碱性发酵方法,探究了先低梯度再高梯度长周期提负荷过程中污泥的产酸性能。结果表明:低梯度提负荷运行阶段,第112 d污泥的酸化率达到最大值,且乙酸占比为71.67%,游离氨(FA)质量浓度为(208±39)mg/L,低于250 mg/L,对微生物无抑制性。在高梯度提负荷阶段,第192 d污泥的水解率提高至41%,丁酸与戊酸的占比增加,FA质量浓度逐渐升高至450 mg/L时产酸性能下降。低梯度的优势菌Guggenheimella(24.88%)演变为高梯度的unclassified_Clostridiales(37.08%)。此外,当负荷为3250 mg TSS/(L·d)时,挥发性脂肪酸(VFAs)达到最大值(3339 mg COD_(Cr)/L)。经过50 d的稳定运行,污泥的产酸率为(606±30)mg COD_(Cr)/(g VSS)。合适的负荷梯度有助于污泥中有机物在碱性条件下(pH值=10.0±0.05)长期稳定连续生成VFAs。

净水厂污泥基复合球实现低扰动底泥覆盖的研究

针对目前原位覆盖材料覆盖过程中对底泥造成扰动并产生扰动释放的问题,使用净水厂污泥制作成低扰动、高吸附性能覆盖材料,并通过覆盖实验验证了其覆盖效果。结果表明,净水厂污泥可制备成低质量密度、高吸附性能的吸附球,最大吸附量可达28.91mg/L。该复合球应用于底泥原位覆盖时,投放时基本上无扰动释放。覆盖后不仅可抑制泥-水界面上TP释放,一定程度上也可抵抗风浪的冲刷,还可通过吸附性能降低水体中TP浓度。